Meeting Between Burhan, Hemedi Expected to Lead to Sudan Ceasefire

Army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. (AFP)
Army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. (AFP)
TT

Meeting Between Burhan, Hemedi Expected to Lead to Sudan Ceasefire

Army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. (AFP)
Army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. (AFP)

Sudanese army commander General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and General Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Daglo, commander of Rapid Support Forces (RSF), are expected to meet in the coming days in a regional capital, according to sources.

Addressing officers at a military base in the Red Sea, Burhan announced Thursday that he had agreed to engage in negotiations to resolve Sudan’s monthslong conflict.

He expressed readiness to negotiate with the “militia” - a reference to the RSF. He added that he rejects any peace deal that humiliates the armed forces and Sudanese people.

Moreover, Burhan stressed that his forces would remain united and strong.

He further pledged to hold accountable the “cancer of the RSF” and every accomplice that led to the RSF’s capture of Wad Madani.

Several reports, including a one by Asharq TV, said Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Al-Sadiq handed a written letter to the Prime Minister of Djibouti and the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) that Burhan is willing to meet Hemedti under certain conditions.

IGAD had suggested a meeting between the two generals, but Burhan refused.

On December 9, IGAD held a summit during which it was announced that the two men would meet to sign a ceasefire agreement and return to dialogue.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared that tireless efforts have led to the agreement over the meeting.

On the ground, clashes between the army and RSF erupted on Saturday in the southern villages of the Gezira state, central Sudan.

The Arab World Press quoted eyewitnesses as saying that army warplanes raided the RSF to prevent their progress in Sennar.

They added that the displacement continues from Wad Madani and the villages of Gezira state to the states of Sennar in the southeast and Gedaref, Kassala, and Port Sudan, in the east of the country.



Syria Reaches Deal to Integrate SDF within State Institutions, Presidency Says

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shaking the hand of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi after the signing of an agreement, to integrate the SDF into the state institutions, in the Syrian capital Damascus on March 10, 2025. (SANA / AFP)
A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shaking the hand of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi after the signing of an agreement, to integrate the SDF into the state institutions, in the Syrian capital Damascus on March 10, 2025. (SANA / AFP)
TT

Syria Reaches Deal to Integrate SDF within State Institutions, Presidency Says

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shaking the hand of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi after the signing of an agreement, to integrate the SDF into the state institutions, in the Syrian capital Damascus on March 10, 2025. (SANA / AFP)
A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shaking the hand of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi after the signing of an agreement, to integrate the SDF into the state institutions, in the Syrian capital Damascus on March 10, 2025. (SANA / AFP)

The Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which controls much of Syria's oil-rich northeast, has signed a deal agreeing to integrate into Syria's new state institutions, the Syrian presidency said on Monday.

The deal, which included a complete cessation of hostilities, was signed by interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and the SDF's commander, Mazloum Abdi.

Under the deal, whose text was posted online by the presidency, all civilian and military institutions in northeast Syria will be integrated within the state, which will thus take over control of borders, airports and oil and gas fields.

The SDF agrees to support the government in combating remnants of deposed president Bashar al-Assad's regime, and any threats to Syria's security and unity.

Since Assad was overthrown by Sharaa's Islamist forces in December, groups backed by Türkiye, one of Sharaa's main supporters, have clashed with the SDF, the main ally in a US coalition against ISIS militants in Syria.

The SDF is spearheaded by the YPG militia, a group that Ankara sees as an extension of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought the Turkish state for 40 years.

Türkiye regards the PKK, YPG and SDF as terrorist groups, and Sharaa's new Damascus administration had been pressing the SDF to merge into newly-minted state security forces.

Abdi had previously expressed a willingness for his forces to be part of the new defense ministry, but said they should join as a bloc rather than individuals, an idea that was rejected by the new government.

The US and Türkiye’s Western allies list the PKK as a terrorist group, but not the YPG or the SDF.